Sweden’s Shining are a strange beast. They’ve gotten the “depressive black metal” tag, which was accurate early on. But their last few records have had balls and shredding. I get the impression of a band that cares a lot, but doesn’t want to look like it does. (Can “depressive black metal” work at a festival in front of tens of thousands of people? As this video at Party.San shows, absolutely, if wrapped in insouciance bordering on cock rock.)

In particular, singer Niklas Kvarforth, once notorious for being self-destructive, seems to have settled down with some degree of professionality. Shining’s recent move to Spinefarm Records came with a strange press release that quoted Kvarforth as saying, “We sat down together and talked everything through, and everyone came to the conclusion that the best way for Shining to grow and develop would be to sign the band to a label with the size and experience of Spinefarm”. For a band that’s supposedly “suicidal”, it sure wants to live.

Hence Shining’s first-ever single and music video, “Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel”. I don’t understand Swedish, so I don’t know what it’s about. But judging from the video, I have a decent idea: very bad things. The uncensored version contains explicit depictions of drug use and self-mutilation, and is quite unsafe for work. I don’t know if the intent is to shock, or to make some artistic point. Both, probably? I find interesting the band’s use of pyro in what looks like a rehearsal room. The strange juxtaposition of big and small matches the contradiction of stylish footage of depravity.

I actually find the censored version more interesting. Without the distraction of self-inflicted harm, the focus shifts to the music. And what wonderful music it is, full of melancholy and strength. Halfway through, an acoustic guitar drops in out of nowhere, and the song becomes a dark ballad worthy of Wovenhand or Crippled Black Phoenix. Then distortion thunders back in, a grand melody wafts above, and the guitars launch into magnificent harmonies that fade out too quickly. I want this song to last 10 more minutes; I want to find out where it goes. I suppose I need to hear Shining’s new album, VII: Född Förlorare.

I caught Shining on their last euro tour with Watain. I much preferred their rock n roll swagger approach over Watain’s dinner theatre schtick. The previous album is pretty interesting too. I look forward to checking out the new one.

I’ve never really gotten into Shining. Mainly because of the whole “I cut myself and do drugs alot” image, I think. Guess that works for some but for me it just seems a bit over the top attention seeking.

The title translates into something like “Dispair, my heritage” (or maybe inheritance would be better), by the way. And the album title means “Born a loser”, while I’m at it.

VII is a great album and while it’s being slammed by the kvlt kiddies for being too poppy, I would disagree. If anything, the album feels a little short (but it’s the same length as any other Shining album).

I’ve been loving this album too. I basically got it to find out what the “other” Shining was doing, since the Norwegian band has gotten so much attention. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised at how good this is.

Love this band and love this new song. I’m afraid that we’ll probably never see Shining tour the United States. I’ll never forget how excited I was when they were listed on the bill with Behemoth last year, but they ended up dropping out of the tour. I do believe that they’ll never be able to procure the proper visas due to criminal convictions.

I loved “V: Halmstad” but thought the last album lacked a little oomph in the songwriting department. This track seems to be getting back into gear, though, so I’m looking forward to hearing the album for sure…

I think I remember reading that VI was recorded extremely quickly, so I get the impression that it was more of a contractual obligation than an artistic effort. Hence the “jammy guitar solo” vibe on that record.

This is terrible. Seriously, there’s virtually nothing interesting going on in this song. This is pop metal. Really, what’s going on in this music that hasn’t already been done by Katatonia and Opeth? This is not even an interesting twist on its own influences. This Kvarforth guy (or whatever his name is) seems to try to put forward a really extreme image, but this music is totally safe. There’s more daring in one single song off In the Nightside Eclipse than in this band’s entire career.

And an acoustic break with clean vocals: very open-minded and creative!

Really, if I could cherry-pick the best songs/parts from V, VI, VII it could be a perfect album. As it stands they’re each so nuanced from the others it’s really hard to stack them against each other. I’d roughly rank them all as equal, but ‘V’ doesn’t get slightly higher marks for being my “entry point” for the band and in my opinion being a little bit more brave with some song-writing ideas.

I don’t know what to think of this band anymore. All of their records (up until the last one) showed a tremendous progression in their style. Each record really did get better. I thought halmsted was close to a masterpiece. What really attracted me to Shining, was the authenticity. Kvarforth was one fucked-up dude. He has the scars to prove it.

But then all of a sudden he went from being someone who didn’t give a shit to someone who seemed to want to be a rock star overnight. (But then again, what kind of job could someone like Kvarforth really have anyway?) I also thought that his work with Maniac in Skitliv was subpar – and whenever those two get together it’s simply annoying.

Regardless, Kvarforth and the rest of the band have some talent, and release some great records. I just have a hard time listening to this type of music without the authenticity it once had.

Besides, I can’t seem to find the new one anywhere in the US yet. Gonna have to resort to mediafire soon.

It seems to me like some of you didn’t understand that Kvarforth had to try to make some kind of living out of his band since anything else he touches fails. The guy probably couldn’t pack your grocery if his life depended on it so he just went the way most musicians go: entering the touring cycle. In order to go on tour you need a new album; they got into the gears of releasing new music each time the touring cycle went over for the previous album. Singles, promo videos, press releases: that’s all to make the touring cycle more profitable and to sustain life as a performing musician. Some punch their cards in a factory, some show up at the office and some others sign with bigger labels and go on tour 9 months a year.

We all have to make a living out of what we do best, even suicidal black metal musicians.

Terrible video, great song. Shining DOES get better with every album. I don’t care about Niklas though. Seems like a total douchebag. And the lyrics are so incredibly cheesy it actually feels embarrasing telling someone you like this band (“I like them for their music, not their lyrics!” I keep telling friends).